The present invention relates to the field of gifts and cards, and, more particularly, to an improved greeting card, such as a birthday card, mother""s day card, or the like, having an electronic information storage media, such as a compact disk (CD), contained therein, and to a method of enabling the purchaser of the card to personalize the card for the intended recipient for whom the card was purchased. The card may optionally also include a gemstone gift, or other item of value or perceived value, contained therein in a secure and, preferably, visible manner along with the CD or other storage media.
In the past, numerous cards, such a greeting or special occasion cards, have been available in a variety of shapes and sizes and with a variety of different decorative images, indicia and/or messages thereon. Such cards are often purchased along with a separate gift item to be presented to the recipient of the gift as a complement to the gift. A variety of cards have also been made which are designed to hold a toy, novelty or gift item, such as a piece of candy or a dog biscuit, as evidenced by U.S Pat. Nos. 4,152,865 and 4,203,516. Cards have also been constructed in the past in a manner which enables an audio cassette to be contained therein, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,780.
Prior art cards, however, have not heretofore provided a card configuration which can be easily customized by the purchaser in a manner other than simply by writing with a pen on a portion of the card. Prior art cards also have failed to provide interesting and/or entertaining information tailored specifically to the person to whom the card has been purchased for.
Thus, a need exists for an improved card and method of personalizing same which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
Thus, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved card/gift and a method of producing same.
A more particular object of the present invention is to provide a customizable gift which can easily and efficiently be customized by a first person for a second person.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method which enables customized gifts to be produced which includes a customized visual and/or audio presentation.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method which enables an electronic customized gift to be produced which contains information on certain gifts selected from a plurality of possible gifts.
A further object of the instant invention is to provide a customizable gift which can be easily customized for a variety of different people having different tastes and interests.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a customizable gift which can be easily adapted to a variety of different occasions.
Still another object of the instant invention is to provide a customizable gift and method of producing same which takes advantage of the Internet.
These and other objects and advantages are achieved by the instant invention which provides a method and system for enabling a first person to produce a customized gift for a second person, including: providing a computer-readable storage medium having a control program and non-customized information stored thereon; obtaining data from the first person which relates to the second person; using the data to generate a customization code; providing the gift and the customization code to the second person; causing the control program to request the customization code from the second person; and using the customization code to select information from the non-customized information to provide a customized display to the second person. The gift is preferably purchased and customized through an Internet website or other electronic system.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a customized gift is provided which includes a computer readable storage medium containing a control program and non-customized information, and a customization code. The control program is operable in response to input of the customization code to provide a customized display using information from the non-customized information selected based on the customization code.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for enabling a first person to produce a customized gift for a second person, including: providing a computer-readable storage medium having a control program and non-customized information stored thereon; obtaining data from said first person which relates to the second person; using the data to generate a customization code; storing the customization code in a database together with a unique identifier for the gift; and providing the gift to the second person. The control program is operable to access the database and obtain the customization code based on the unique identifier, and use the customization code to select information from the non-customized information to provide a customized display to the second person.